William Pepper - An Act of State: The Execution of Martin Luther King

"After King saw Pepper 's "The Children of Vietnam " feature in Ramparts, Pepper recalled in an appearance at San Diego 's Current Affairs Bookstore January 28, "He asked to meet with me and see other photos I 'd taken. At one point, I was going through the material with him and he just wept. He never could accept it, and became very emotional. " Pepper was with King at Riverside Church in New York City on April 4, 1967 --a year to the day before King 's death --when he delivered the most impassioned speech he ever gave against the Vietnam War."

"There is abundant evidence of a major high level conspiracy in the assassination of my husband, Martin Luther King, Jr. And the civil court's unanimous verdict has validated our belief. I wholeheartedly applaud the verdict of the jury and I feel that justice has been well served in their deliberations. This verdict is not only a great victory for my family, but also a great victory for America. It is a great victory for truth itself. It is important to know that this was a SWIFT verdict, delivered after about an hour of jury deliberation. The jury was clearly convinced by the extensive evidence that was presented during the trial that, in addition to Mr. Jowers, the conspiracy of the Mafia, local, state and federal government agencies, were deeply involved in the assassination of my husband. The jury also affirmed overwhelming evidence that identified someone else, not James Earl Ray, as the shooter, and that Mr. Ray was set up to take the blame."

"I want to make a special thanks to Dr. William Pepper, for really if it were not for his efforts, we would not have known about this. We really would not have gotten involved. We can say that because of the evidence and information obtained in Memphis we believe that this case is over. This is a period in the chapter. We constantly hear reports, which troubles me, that this verdict creates more questions than answers. That is totally false. Anyone who sat in on almost four weeks of testimony, with over seventy witnesses, credible witnesses I might add, from several judges to other very credible witnesses, would know that the truth is here. The question now is, "What will you do with that?" We as a family have done our part. We have carried this mantle for as long as we can carry it. We know what happened. It is on public record. The transcripts will be available; we will make them available on the Web at some point. Any serious researcher who wants to know what happened can find out."

"Certainly this has been a very, very long time coming. It essentially says that the truth can in fact come through. It essentially says that if you keep working forward, sometimes for some, even in the twilight, that one day you will reach the conclusion of truth."

"I guess I will speak, for I have never spoken before regarding the assassination of my father. I was only 3 yearsold. You may remember me as the one in my mother's lap at the funeral. I don't have much to say, because in a real sense I recall words that were spoken when the decision came down from the Supreme Court, regarding the bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama. The words spoken were that "God had spoken" from the Supreme Court. I think that God has spoken from 12 independent jurors in Memphis, Tennessee concerning my father's assassination. As somewhat the spiritual leader for this family, because I am an ordained Christian Minister, I have to truly give praise to God for what has happened. We cannot know that God is not a liar. He has spoken his word that I will never leave you, not forsake you, that I will be with you until the end of the earth. So I praise God for what may happen. I thank God for my family. My family praises God for Attorney William Pepper, for his diligent and tireless efforts. There is a word in scripture that says do not be weary in what you are doing, for in due season you will reap if you faint not. Today, we have reaped a harvest, not only for us alone, but also for this nation. And I believe that ultimately God is going to speak even more truth in regards to the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., because as we said from the beginning, even though we needed a sense of peace and satisfaction to have the record set straight, the reality is that it is not who killed Martin Luther King, Jr., but as we go forth into the new millennium, as a nation, but what killed Martin Luther King, Jr."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, this great republic has throughout it's history, has been afraid to face the issues that Martin Luther King tried to confront at the end of his life. Dexter King said quite frankly, that Martin King opposed the war in Vietnam, and sought to bring the poor to Washington to rally for their cause in the halls of Congress. They took up tents in the shadow of the Washington Memorial to remind the lawmakers that forces of power in this land that do exist, and they have rights which were being denied to them.

Because he took on those forces, powerful economic forces that dominated politics in this land, they killed him. He was killed because he could not be stopped. He was killed because they feared that half a million people would rise in revolution in the capitol of this country, and do what Mr. Jefferson said needed to be done every 20 years, to cleanse this land. This land has not been cleansed. This nation has not faced the problems that Martin Luther King, Jr. died trying to face and confront. They still exist today, the forces of evil, the powerful economic forces that dominate the government of this land and make money on war and deprive the poor of what is their right, their birthright. They still abound and they rule.

The jury heard the background of Dr. King's crust. They understood, finally, the reason why he was stained. He was not a civil rights leader when he was stained. He was an international figure of great stature. He had a moral banner that he was waving and it was heard and seen all over the land. Here and in Europe, Southeast Asia. He had that kind of compelling presence. He was a danger and a threat to the status quo. So he was eliminated.

What the jury also heard, from all of those witnesses for almost four weeks, was that he was assassinated because of the removal of the all police protection when he was in the city of Memphis. Even Black Firemen were taken away. His body guard staff were removed. Attack forces were moved back. On and on it went. And then the Mafia involvement with Jowers was put forth in excruciating detail of how this was planned and who was behind this."